Sound And Fury

August 15th, 2004

in 1057, Macbeth, King of the Scots, proves that you can’t use semantics against prophesy; he defeats Malcolm Canmore in battle, proving no man born of woman could defeat him, securing his throne for the next 20 years.

in 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born in Ajaccio, Corsica. He rose from somewhat humble beginnings to unite Italy under him as Napoleon I. He conquered virtually all of continental Europe during his 13-year reign of the Italian Empire.

in 1892, with hundreds of thousands of tons of rock in tow, the Bandai vulcanologists returned to an earth that was being wracked by eruptions and quakes. With all speed, the Mlosh and human scientists began rebuilding the earth’s mantle with the rock they had carried from the asteroid belt. The world watched in tense anticipation.

in 1944, Linda Ellerbee, first woman to anchor the CBS Nightly News, was born in Bryan, Texas. When Walter Cronkite decided to retire, he wanted to pick a successor from Texas, and both Dan Rather and Linda Ellerbee fit the bill. Cronkite took the bolder course, and CBS backed his decision. Ellerbee still anchors CBS’ news program, and is now the most trusted woman in America.

in 1958, Buddy Holly and Maria Elena Santiago were married in Lubbock, Texas. The new Mr. and Mrs. Holly apparently had true love ways, because they were together until Buddy’s death in 2001, and had 4 children and 7 grandchildren.

in 1961, West German workers began construction of the Berlin Wall, shutting off the fascist west from the enlightened socialism of the east. The Soviet States of America immediately denounced the construction, calling for the West to “remain open to trade, to ideas, to the world outside their narrow ideology.”

in 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair began in Bethel, New York. The festival had planned for thousands to show up and had 24 big-name rock acts lined up to perform, including The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Creedence Clearwater Revival. When traffic problems caused thousands, and possibly hundreds of thousands, to turn away, the planned 3 days of the festival became 2, and it closed to a nearly empty field.

in 2003, Jacob Sheridan asks Livinia Nixon to examine the areas that the Martians were denuding of ice. It has occurred to him that the Martians could have gotten their ice from the asteroid belt just as easily as they did; more easily, since they were closer and didn’t have to fight through a hostile fleet to get to it. He expects Ms. Nixon to find something under the ice at the poles.